Dark Souls Director Explains Storytelling Approach And Why He Likes Working On Multiple Projects At Once

From Software revealed their upcoming game, Sekiro: Shadows DieTwice, at this year’s E3.With this game, it looks like the studio and its president, Hidetaka Miyazaki, are moving away from what we’ve seen in the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne in several ways, while also remaining true to what’s come before, such as the way it will tell its story. Speaking with the Official Playstation Blog, Miyazaki provided some insight into his style of storytelling, and he also explained why he prefers directing multiple projects at once.

Miyazaki’s stories in games have never been straightforward, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will be similar to his previous works in this aspect. Regarding his approach to storytelling, Miyazaki stated, “I’m a fan of stories that require you to use a little bit of your imagination in order to really understand the whole thing. When I was young, I used to enjoy reading books that were too hard for me, where I could only read maybe half the kanji, and using my imagination to fill in the gaps. I wanted to see if I could bring that kind of experience to a video game, where you use your imagination to bridge those gaps.” It seems that if you’re a fan of the stories in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, then you will like what’s there in the studio’s upcoming game as well.

At E3, From Software also announced Déraciné for PSVR, and Miyazaki explained why he prefers to work on multiple projects at once. He said, “Actually, I’m very used to directing multiple titles at once. Armored Core 4 and Demon’s Souls were at the same time, while Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 were at the same time. This is a pretty normal situation for me, but what wasn’t normal was announcing two games at the same time.

“I actually prefer “parallel direction” — directing multiple projects at once. As a creative, if you’re focused on a singular thing all the time it’s easy to get stuck in that mentality. It’s easier to find inspiration when you’re working on multiple things than it is when you’re totally focused on one. I enjoy that.”

Although a release date hasn’t been announced yet for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, we can expect it to release in 2019 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.